Michael Brown Okinawa assault incident
On November 2, 2002, U.S. Marine Corps Major Michael Brown attempted an indecent assault on a Filipina bartender in Okinawa, Japan.
The case involved the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security Between the United States and Japan and the U.S.–Japan Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).
On July 8, 2004, after a 19-month trial, Brown was convicted by a Japanese court of attempted indecent assault and destruction of private property and received a one-year suspended prison sentence.
As a result of this incident and others involving crimes committed by U.S. military personnel in Japan, both countries entered into negotiations aimed at modifying the SOFA in July 2003.
He was demoted and involuntarily retired from the military in 2006 and at his trial in 2009 entered an Alford plea, receiving probation on the felony conviction.
Early in the morning of November 2, 2002, a female employee of the Camp Courtney officers' club on Okinawa drove up to the Courtney main gate and reported to base security personnel that a Marine Corps major had just attempted to sexually assault her in her car on a deserted road near the back gate of the base.
Although the U.S.–Japan Status of Forces Agreement stated that service members would only be turned over to Japanese law enforcement if formally indicted, the U.S. had agreed to give "sympathetic consideration" for serious crimes in response to the 1995 Okinawan rape incident, in which a U.S. Navy sailor and two Marines raped a 12-year-old Okinawan girl.
[10] Throughout the trial, Brown wrote numerous public missives about what he felt was the unfairness and corruption of the Japanese justice system and accusing the local Okinawan government of pursuing a political agenda in the prosecution of his case.
[12] Brown was granted a ¥10 million bail (approximately US$100,000, c.2003) by the Naha court on May 13 but he was restricted to Camp Courtney for the duration of the trial.
[15] Angry at the loss of her cell phone, Nakamine stated that she then embellished the story when she told it to the guards at the Courtney main gate.
Nakamine further claimed that she had been coerced by police, prosecutors and her employer, a local agency that provides temporary workers for USMC bases on Okinawa, to file the charges.
When asked why he would not answer, Brown replied, "Because I want the opportunity for this court to see publicly the type of corruption and distortion of evidence by the police and the prosecutor."
[18] During a later court session on September 9, Takaesu attempted to submit medical evidence that Brown had suffered a back injury in 1999 and had a steel collar and bolts inserted around his spine.
[19] During another trial session later in September, the Naha court decided to accept Nakamine's pre-trial statements and accusations of Brown along with her later attempts to recant.
When Takaesu called for the clothing Nakamine wore the night of the alleged assault to be entered as evidence, the prosecutor, Tsuyoshi Satake, refused to present it.
[22] On April 24, Takeshi Oda, representing the prosecution, made his closing arguments, describing the alleged crime as "vicious and atrocious", and calling for a three-year prison sentence for Brown.
Oda added that the alleged crime had affected the local community, stating, "There's a feeling of anxiety among the residents because of this incident."
During the same hearing, Takaesu submitted as evidence a letter Brown wrote to Nakamine apologizing for using bad language with her and giving her ¥8,000 (about 75 US$, c.2004) to replace her cell phone.
[23] Following a 19-month trial, on July 8, 2004, Brown was convicted by the Naha District Court of "attempting an indecent act" and "destruction of property" but was acquitted of the rape charge.
Chief Judge Nobuyuki Yokota said Brown was given a light sentence because the 21-year Marine veteran had no prior criminal record.
[25] The issue of violent crime, especially rape and murder, committed by U.S. servicemembers on Japanese citizens in Okinawa has often strained relations between the U.S., Japan, and the local Okinawan government.
[26][28] The issue became central to the demand by many Okinawans and other Japanese citizens for the significant reduction and eventual elimination of U.S. military forces stationed in Okinawa.
On December 3, 2002, Japan's national government asked that Brown be transferred to Japanese police officials for confinement, but in this case the United States declined to do until an indictment was handed down.
The resolution condemned the United States' refusal to hand over Brown, calling it, "in defiance of our country's judicial setup and in disregard of its sovereignty" and "intolerable".
"[32] Because of this and subsequent incidents by U.S. servicemembers on Okinawa, including another rape of a local woman by a U.S. Marine, the governors of fourteen Japanese prefectures in which U.S. military forces were stationed urged the ruling Liberal Democratic Party "to secure a true Japan–U.S.
Impersonating a police officer, Brown handcuffed the girl and drove her to Kanawha County claiming to be taking her in for questioning.
[35] On August 14, 2009, Brown entered an Alford plea,[36] not admitting to guilt but not contesting that prosecutors had evidence to prove him guilty, and was convicted on a felony charge of attempting to commit kidnapping and a misdemeanor petty larceny charge in Cabell County, West Virginia Circuit Court.
